Sunday, July 24, 2011

It's July, which means I'm halfway through my first Chicago summer. Everyone I talk to in or from Chicago raves about how great the summers are. I must say that the people in or from Chicago have a very strange definition of great.

I will say that the city itself is amazing in the summer. You've got the great parks by the water, summer concerts, multiple block parties every weekend, and a beach where you'll find some impressive people watching. There is always something to do in the summer if you leave your apartment.

But let's talk about the white elephant in the room: the weather. Chicago's weather is mentally ill. When it's happy, it's really friggin happy. Most of the last two weeks were spent with heat indices topping the 100 degree mark. But when it's sad, it's suicidal. The last two days, we've had some of the worst flash floods on record. One day it's 90 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The next day, or maybe even hour, it looks like the four horseman of the apocalypse have come for rapture. It's a mental patient that they're trying to cure with LSD and cocaine.

Here's what no one here seems to understand. There are places with amazing parks, shopping, swimming, block parties, you name it, and the weather is bearable all 12 months of the year. Yes, that's right, no need to get beat in the face repeatedly for eight months waiting for the psychopath to let you in. I don't really understand why people think they need to bear the winters here, because even the summer weather is some of the craziest I've ever seen.

So here's my description of Chicago weather. The winters are cold, snowy, and there's no decent skiing within a days drive. There will be times when you cannot leave your house for days, so keep some frozen pizzas in the freezer. The summers are sweltering, and once a week you will stare into the gates of hell when you look out your window, if only for an hour.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

I just got back from San Juan, Puerto Rico and on the flight home, I got a chance to watch Inception one more time. I'm sure the last thing the world needs is another interpretation of Christopher Nolan's film, but here's one you might not have heard. WARNING: The follow paragraphs contain spoilers.

I started thinking about totems. Every person going into the dream world has a totem that supposedly only themselves have touched. Except Cobb. Cobb's totem is the same as his wife Mal's, a small top. That got me thinking. There are three people who touch the top: Saito, Mal and Cobb.

We learn later in the film that Cobb and Mal both worked as extractors together and began playing with the idea of a dream inside a dream. From Cobb's story, we know they spent almost 50 years in limbo together before Cobb incepted Mal with the idea that they were in a dream.

Now back in the real world, Mal is still obsessed with the idea that the two of them are still dreaming. Cobb tries to reason with her, using the children as proof, but it is no use.

And now the twist. What if Mal was right? Maybe they were dreaming. How can Mal convince Cobb that it was all a dream? She has to use the one thing Cobb believes is real, the children. What Mal does is create a scenario where Cobb can't be with the children. She kills herself and pins it on him.

Enter Saito. He has chosen Cobb for his special task in part due to the test missions performed in the beginning of the film. But we never see that start of those missions. I believe that Mal and Saito are working together to wake Cobb up from the dream.

In fact, you know from the very first dream sequence where Cobb and Arthur are trying to convince Saito to give them is secret. Mal tells Saito what Cobb is up to, forcing the dream to collapse. In fact, anytime Cobb attempts to go deeper into the dream levels, Mal is there to try to stop him.

What we see at the end of the movie is the failure of Mal to get Cobb to wake up. Cobb is completely lost in his dream world because he no longer believes Mal is real, and she was his last link to reality.

And there we have it. Re-watch the movie and look for the connection between Saito, Mal and Cobb. Also look for clues that Mal was right and that they were living in a dream world when she committed suicide. It's interesting that after a full year, Inception still has the ability to make you think.